Copyright bill makes it easier to go after illegal file-sharing

MONTREAL — Canada's copyright law is so outdated, it is illegal for people to copy CDs onto iPods or to record television shows to be viewed later. But all that will change if a new copyright law introduced in the House of Commons Wednesday is passed.

Other than legitimizing common practices, however, the new law comes down hard on piracy, making it easier for recording companies and film studios to go after those who share files illegally.

"From the computations that we've done, (piracy) destroys billions of dollars of value per year," Industry Minister Tony Clement said at a news conference at the Montreal offices of gaming company Electronic Arts — one of the industries that Clement said will benefit greatly from the new law.

Under the proposed law, Internet service providers would be required to notify their users if they receive notice that a copyright has been infringed. The ISPs would then be required to hold on to the personal information of the infringing member, and to turn it over if a court orders them to do so.

Under the current law, ISPs only notify copyright infringers on a voluntary basis.

Penalties for consumer-based file-sharing will be eased under the law, which will distinguish between those who share files for commercial purposes versus those who do it for their own use. The latter category will have reduced fines.

Among other changes, the law makes it illegal to circumvent digital locks — even for personal or educational purposes.

This means that no one is permitted to hack into a DVD and share the file on the web, but because there are no exceptions to this rule, someone who backs up a DVD movie has likely committed an infringement, since most DVDs already contain digital locks.

Altering a DVD bought in one of five other regions, such as Europe, in order to enable it to be played on a North American DVD player would also constitute a copyright infringement — a practice that is currently legal.

There is an exemption to the digital lock rule: Someone who purchases a cellular phone may unlock it in order to switch service providers (from Rogers to Bell, for example), assuming the user's contract with the phone company has ended.

The new bill also relaxes many of the copyright rules for educational purposes, as part of what's called a fair-dealing clause. For example, it will allow teachers to use copyrighted materials as part of a lesson, unless there is a digital lock.

This is the second time the Conservative government has introduced changes to the copyright law. Introduced in 2008, Bill C-61 died when the government called an election.

Clement said the new law strikes a balance between the rights' of consumers and copyright holders, but renowned copyright expert Michael Geist, of the University of Ottawa, called it "regressive."

"Especially around the issue of digital locks," Geist said, pointing to the example of book-sharing.

Under the proposed law, he said, people would be able to share books for educational purposes — but not digital books, if they are protected by a digital lock. Furthermore, teachers would not be allowed to photocopy and distribute books if there is also an electronic version that is digitally locked.

The Business Software Alliance, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, and the Canadian Film and Television Production Association all welcomed the bill Wednesday. For its part, the Canadian Association of University Students said the bill should make more exceptions for educational purposes, while the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists said there should be more provisions to compensate artists.

"Half the law is missing," Stephen Waddell, executive director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists said yesterday in a statement.

Backed by a statement of support from Barenaked Ladies band member Kevin Hearn, the alliance said the privacy law should extend the private copying levy, currently added to blank CDs, to iPods and other digital devices. The Conservative government has rejected adding such a levy, calling it a "tax on iPods."

ACTRA didn't totally pan the bill. It welcomed provisions that will better protect against piracy.

That notion was seconded by the Entertainment Software Association of Canada.

"This gives us the tools to go after the large-scale pirates who are really profiting," said Danielle Parr, the association's executive director.

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